#<- new tag so i ront annoy people

[chowtrolls]

I got mad at my stupid rustyass clanking fucking sway bar links so i bought. ford f150 sway bar links. comparing the two is very funny.

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 34

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster? A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs. But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: some swears, some alluded-to goriness

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates.)

Read on Ao3

Tarzan Boy - Baltimora

Chapter 33 | Chapter 35

Now, wait just a goddamn minute-

My raptor. Lizzy thought as she wrinkled her nose in offence. Tell her. Mine.

Lori shook Muldoon’s hand first, her mouth twitching in good humour as she looked him up and down. “You’re exactly what I imagined.”

Her gaze then rested on Lizzy. “But you aren’t.”

“Thanks?” She offered. 

“The ethologist from Africa, working as a shit-shoveller.” Lori continued. “Your name’s come up more than once on B.”

“Shut the fff-…ront door.” Lizzy remembered in the nick of time she’d better be polite to this woman, since the future of her raptor could be in someone else’s hands. “Nothing bad, I hope?”

Muldoon snorted quietly. 

“We could use someone like you, actually. Consider this a formal offer.” The embryologist announced. “Think about it.”

“You’re not here to recruit, Ruso. And, anyway, you can’t have her.” Muldoon sounded faintly annoyed. “I need her.”

Lori looked back and forth between her new acquaintances, standing far too close together to be just colleagues. Her eyes widened. Okay, now she got it.

Way, way more than friends. But trying to hide it. That was…intriguing.  

“I’m sure you do.” Lori nodded knowingly, already striding towards the Jeep. “Still pretending I’m just here for a site visit, Robert? Exchange programme?”

“Sort your face out.” Muldoon grumbled to Lizzy once the embryologist was out of hearing range. 

She quickly swapped her furrowed brow for an artificial smile. He recoiled. “Christ, that’s worse.”

***

On the road, Lori was busy complaining about Wu and Hammond, and pointing out all the ways in which Site B was different, and also, superior. Lizzy was quietly stewing in the back seat, pretending to be interested, because Lori had simply gotten into the front passenger side without even asking. That was her spot. 

Formal offer. Think about it.

Oh, I’ve thought about it, all right. She definitely wasn’t keen on Ruso and Muldoon haggling over who got to keep her, like she was some kind of an asset.

Your name’s come up on B.

Lizzy wondered if her reputation was for good science, or if the persistent rumours about her bedside manner had made their way over the water. She’d rather not find out.

Screw you, Ruso. 

Muldoon kept glancing at her in the rear-view mirror as he drove, and Lizzy just shook her head whenever he caught her eye. He might not have been paying any attention to Lori wittering on either, but that didn’t make the situation any less unbearable. 

In a quiet corner of the visitor centre, Lizzy vs Muldoon, Raptor vs Ex-Raptor, descended into chaos in record time. 

Lori made no effort to hide her massive eye-roll, listening to the back-and-forth. It had been less than five minutes. They seemed to have completely forgotten she was even there.

Dr Armstrong kept trying to butt in with how she’d apparently taught the raptor some so-called tricks. Muldoon, who Lori had pinned as the silent type, had plenty to say in counter-argument. He was adamant that ‘heel, down’ was not one of those tricks and never would be.

They were behaving like a married couple. Even their thinly-veiled insults were far too comfortable. Armstrong, though she seemed to be holding back for some unknown reason, was still spouting remarks that Lori wouldn’t dare to even think in front of a superior let. She decided to do the both of them a huge favour. 

“Guys, seriously!” She startled them into silence with her outburst. “What is this?”

“I don’t-“ Lizzy began.

“Look-“ Lori pointed at her. “Unstoppable force.” Then at Muldoon. “Immovable object.” “What happens?” She brought her palms together, mimicking an explosion. “Boom. So, whatever this is? Hurry up and get it over with, honestly. You’ll feel so much better.”

“Get what over with?” Lizzy played dumb, still unsure of whether she could trust Lori. 

“You’re a crappy liar. You know what I’m talking about.” She fixed them both with a stare, as if it were obvious. “Just sleep with him already.”

Lizzy heard a strangled noise, realised it was coming from her own throat, and turned it into a coughing fit.

“Can we get back to the reason you’re here?” Muldoon’s voice became flat and emotionless. “Now.”

“The raptor? Oh, yeah…” Lori shrugged. “I agree with Lizzy.”

”What?” The ethologist was shocked. 

”What.” Muldoon was affronted.

“Ah, ah! Let me explain and you’ll understand why I didn’t want to do this over the phone.” Dr Ruso held up her hands in a panic, trying to quell the park warden-shaped storm brewing. 

“I think you’d better.” Then to Lizzy, who was turning around, mid I-told-you-so. “And you, careful.” 

“Take it from me, InGen is fully capable of ruining both your lives.” Lori dropped the truth bomb. “I’ve had a Hell of a time. But that’s nothing compared to if I’d gone through with it.”

“You..?” Lizzy’s fingernails dug into the edge of her seat. 

“Mh-hmm.” She nodded matter-of-factly. “I had the needle ready, but I chickened out. Then someone told on me.”

“I wasn’t aware of all that.” Even deadpan Muldoon was capable of looking surprised. 

“InGen are playing nice about you two being extremely unprofessional.” She shook her head when both of them opened their mouths to speak. “Believe me, they know.”

She noted with some pleasure that neither of them bothered to deny it. 

“Then why not say something?” Lizzy hadn’t worked for a big company before or ever had to consider business politics. It all seemed like a complicated game. “Why not fire us?”

”I kind of get the impression you’re both extremely good at your jobs.” The compliment didn’t feel genuine. “So, InGen want you to stay right where they can keep a very close eye on you. That’s my logic.”

Lizzy let out a very small oh. 

“Besides, they can do a lot worse than fire you. They could hurt you. If you don’t care about yourself, they hurt the people you do care about.”

“How?” Lizzy naïvely asked. 

“This is a company that makes dinosaurs. You think they don’t know every single thing about you?” Lori steepled her remaining fingers. “Your pressure points?”

Lizzy felt Muldoon tense beside her, and knew he was thinking about his daughter. She was an ocean away, relatively safe in Africa…

But there were school applications to think of. Opportunities she would want a fighting chance at.

Muldoon, damn him, might feel he didn’t have much of a future to ruin, but they could ruin Honour’s.

And Lizzy herself was well within their grasp, living on the privately-owned island. People go missing in the jungle all the time. She had no family. Who would realistically think to look for her after weeks, months of not unusual no-contact? 

She felt herself panicking and knew Lori had scored a bullseye. She was clearly privy to some intel or she was genuinely talking from experience. Either prospect was horrifying.  Lori managed another hefty eye roll. “Sheesh, the look on your faces. It’s really simple.”

Muldoon wasn’t impressed. “Funny. You make it sound anything but simple.”

“You care for her?” Lori pointed at Lizzy.

“Very much.” The park warden answered without hesitation.

Lizzy’s head snapped around. She knew, of course, but to actually hear him say it aloud with such conviction somehow meant more to her than when her ex had got down on one knee.

“Then the raptor stays breathing.” Lori concluded.

“That’s our only option?” Muldoon’s voice was filled with gloom. 

“Trust me. If you want to be left alone: best behaviour. Don’t find out the way I did, that the company you work for-“ The embryologist gestured at the corporate branding all around the room. “-doesn’t actually give a shit about you.”

Lizzy could hardly believe in a roundabout way, she’d got her wish.

Lori smiled. “Or…you could always keep her out of harm’s way, on B, if you’re that concerned about my raptor-“

“Christ, Ruso; give it a rest.” Muldoon spoke roughly. “She’s better off where I can keep a very close eye on her.” 

“Is she in the room with us?” Lizzy was unable to hold her tongue. 

“Grown-ups are talking, dear.” Lori smirked.

Muldoon put a hand on Lizzy‘s knee under the table, stopping her before she could leap to her feet and flip it over. Lizzy jerked her leg sharply upwards, trapping his hand between her good self and the solid object. 

Lori raised an eyebrow at the muffled thump beneath them. “Maybe we should take five…”

“Agreed.” His voice sounded strained.

“Mind if I take a look around?” Lori asked cheerfully. “Last time I saw the visitor centre they were only putting the foundations in.”

“Don’t wander off.” Muldoon wouldn’t even look at her. He was occupied, busy digging his fingers into Lizzy’s thigh muscle, trying to make her release him . “You’re almost as much prone to trouble as this one.” ”Wouldn’t dream of it, Robert. Your biosecurity has a lot to be desired.” She replied scornfully. “I’ll leave you two alone to talk about me in peace.”

Lori disappeared through the double doors. They heard the whir of a projector kicking in and a sudden chorus of Hello John hello, John Hello John!

”Oh my God, I hate it here.” Lori’s defeated voice echoed from the next room. 

Lizzy finally relaxed her leg. It was a complicated mix of elation and resentment she felt. The raptor was safe, but she didn’t like her man being disappointed.

“That might be the cheapest trick you’ve ever pulled, Armstrong.” Muldoon sounded almost impressed, as he flexed his fingers.

She shrugged. “Just doing what I’d do if any man touched my leg at work.”

“Hm, ‘spose.” He agreed, despite the pointless exercise of keeping up appearances in front of Lori, who’d seen straight through them. “This meeting didn’t pan out how I thought it would. She has the cut of a woman who has hardly anything left to lose.”

”Did you like her?” Lizzy asked.

“How do you mean?” Cautiously.

”Not like that.” It was Lizzy’s turn to roll her eyes. “Have some faith me.”

Not jealous. 

“I’m honestly not sure.” Muldoon answered eventually. “She was-“

”-odd.” Lizzy finished.

“Yes.” They said at the same time. 

They heard more whirring, and then Henry, how the Devil are you?! as Lori evidently came face-to-face with her workmate through the glass into the lab next-door.

Lizzy knew she should feel triumphant. The raptor had narrowly escaped a metaphorical, or possibly quite literal neck-wringing in the middle of the night. Instead she felt strangely deflated.

“Why didn’t you just do it?” She asked Muldoon. “Nobody would have known.”

“You would have known, and you never would have forgiven me.” He absent-mindedly reached for her leg again, but thought better of it. “I believe I can only get away with that sort of thing so many times, don’t you?” Followed by something that was almost, almost a wink. 

She understood. He hadn’t wanted to do any of this. But he’d gone to all this trouble for her, inviting Lori to the island, so it was done the right way. Judge, jury and executioner. A fair trial. 

“Here’s the thing, I’m no better off with deciding what to do next.”

”No better off?” Lizzy blurted out, thoughts slightly muddled. “ I’d have thought you’d have found one of your options a lot easier.”

”It’s not easy. It’s never easy.” Muldoon frowned. “Not when it’s paid for, or necessary-“

The reasons were myriad. Diseased, debilitated, too deadly. Even when it was a mercy killing.

”I don’t find it easy.” He continued. “Never have, Armstrong. Even after all these years. But it’s my job, my life. I can’t get away from it.”

Without ever directly asking, she had always known in the back of her mind he must have shot and killed elephants in Kenya. That wasn’t something you could avoid, being an African game warden for any length of time. Lizzy herself had once been forced to raise a shotgun at a charging bull. If he had been more blasé about it, had not found it difficult to take the life of such an intelligent creature, they would have likely been at odds from Day One. To Lizzy, it made you no better than a poacher. No respect.

But knowing Muldoon never pulled the trigger without due consideration made Lizzy feel slightly better. She tried to see the impossible dilemma about the raptor through his eyes. All he wanted to do was keep her safe. Like he said, it was his job. To keep all of them safe.

Now she realised. Surely then, it was wrong, to not support him. “What do you want to do?”

“Many things…” He gave her a long unwavering look followed by a world-weary sigh. “-Afraid I’m going to have to ask Hammond for better weapons. And I can already see how that conversation will end.”

“It’s okay.” Lizzy leaned back and folded her hands behind her head, stretching out her back. “You have my permission.”

“Do I?” He found it amusing. “Well, that’s alright then.”

Silence. The cinematic experience next door seemed to have finished.

”You care for me very much?” Lizzy asked quietly.

“Surely that wasn’t a surprise to hear?”

“I guess-“ She fumbled. “To say it out loud, in front of someone else…got the impression you’re a bit, y’know-“

”I don’t know.” Probably did. Just wanted to hear it from her. 

”Shy.” Hmm, not quite right. “Maybe…repressed-“

“Rubbish. I always say exactly what I’m thinking.” Muldoon grumbled. “Richardson’s an idiot. I remind him on a regular basis.”

“True-“

“If it bothers you, Armstrong, I won’t do it again.”

”No, no!” Lizzy shook her head furiously. Please, do it again. “Didn’t say it bothered me.”

”Repressed-“ Muldoon shook his head in disbelief. “You’ll find out…” 

”’scuse me?”

“Doesn’t matter right now. But I would like to make something very clear.” He turned to face her properly. “Whatever happens…I don’t want to just get it over with.” 

“Me neither. Whatever happens.” Lizzy hesitated before her next question. ”Was she telling the truth? Do you think InGen knows?”

“Well, if Ruso worked it out in less than two minutes…” Muldoon hazarded. “But I’m not the ethologist. You are.”

“Then, are we really in danger?”

He nodded. ”Quite possibly.”

***

She found Dr Ruso standing at the edge of the lake. 

“Stop, don’t jump.” Lizzy said dully, picking her way around the ferns to join her. She had asked for a few minutes alone with their visitor, reluctantly granted. 

Lori didn’t turn around, only continued watching a trio of parakeets swooping in a wide arc over the water. 

“Armstrong, the lesser evil.” She quickly wiped her eyes. “So, you don’t always come as a pair?”

Lizzy scowled. Why was this woman getting such a kick out of being plain mean?

True to Lori’s earlier words, the notorious ethologist had been far removed from what she was expecting. News of Dr Armstrong’s unrivalled temper had reached Sorna months ago. Henry Wu was incapable of mentioning ‘that woman’ without shuddering. This was apparently the ‘Elizabeth’ Mike Richardson rather unprofessionally complained about in memos, his disdain more than apparent in the typeface.

Well then, where was she? Where was this legend? Because Lori had yet to meet her.

Lizzy swallowed her pride and remained cordial. ”What do you think of the facilities?”

”Disgustingly twee.” Lori scrunched her face up at the small talk. “And you aren’t anywhere near opening yet. Going to miss your deadline.”

“That’s not my problem.” Lizzy found herself wishing Tom was around to serve up snark where she was unable, lighten the mood. “At least something around here isn’t.”

“Rubbed you the wrong way earlier, didn’t I?” Lori flashed her a quick smile. “Never been the best at making friends.”

An only child with older twin stepsisters, Lori had always struggled. Sometimes keeping friends was the harder part, with the few she’d made. 

“A little.” Lizzy gritted her teeth. Muldoon had told her don’t. Well, tough. She was doing. “Now, I am sorry you got hurt. But I need to know exactly what went down when she bit you.” 

”You’ve seen the incident report.” Ruso fielded. 

”I know what happened. I want to know how you felt. What you were thinking.” Maybe then I can save her. “Because I need to work out what she was thinking.”

”A little sadistic of you, Armstrong.” Defence crept into Lori’s tone. “Asking me to relive traumatic events.”

Lizzy reached her boiling point, fed up of walking on eggshells, tiptoeing around this woman because of office politics. Goddammit, she missed Namibia. Missed not having to play mind games, saying whatever she bloody well felt like saying.  “A little cowardly of you, Ruso-” Enough. She reverted, guns blazing, straight back to the Glasgow shipyards. “-to be withholding vital information because it’s the only remotely useful thing you’ve got going for yourself!”

The parakeets scattered.

Lori blinked in shock at the volume, nearly whooped out loud, and started giggling. Then laughing recklessly, her first real laugh in very long time. 

There you are, legend. 

“That’s better!” She crowed. “Jeez, I thought the Irresistible Force Paradox thing would be enough to get you going, but you didn’t even wobble!”

Armstrong still looked like she wanted to punch her.

Good. 

“Christ, I was only pretending. I just didn’t want you to hurt my raptor.” Lizzy snarled protectively, as if the dinosaur were her own child. “She doesn’t know any better.” 

“I’m not sure if she does…” Nature, sure. But nurture had a huge part to play. Lori guiltily thought back to her role in raising VM2308 in what was essentially a sensory deprivation chamber, all alone. 

Sterile, empty, soulless. An asylum.

Lori reminded herself she did the best she could with what she had. 

Did I though? I…could…have done more. 

Shit, she’d drifted off. The newly interesting Dr Armstrong was in the middle of saying something important.

“…accidents happen all the time with zoo animals.”

“No, you don’t understand. This wasn’t an accident. She tricked me.”

“Tricked you?” Lizzy repeated, unsure if she heard correctly. Not possible.

“She acted submissive to lure me in, then snapped when I tried to grab her. I thought it would be okay without the net, I just wanted to get her secured…”

For the first time since they’d met, Lori’s bravado stuttered and died, and she looked like a frightened child, wringing her hands. 

“I didn’t even notice it at first, but tried to grab again, I couldn’t, I looked down, and…” She gulped. “-blood everywhere. I realised it was mine, they were gone. You know the feeling when you can’t believe it’s real?”

The ethologist nodded. All too well. Her shoulder throbbed. 

“I saw the red in her mouth, on her teeth, and she crunched them, Lizzy. Then she threw her head back and swallowed them in one go, like a goddamn seagull.”  “Horrific.” Lizzy said softly. “I am sorry, you know.”  “The smell-“ The woman shuddered with a dry heave, remembering. “I can feel them still, sometimes. Common with amputations. Phantom limbs-“

”So I’ve heard.”

“I’m basically a Kindergartener. Can barely write my own name. Reach for things and drop them, all the time. Tying shoes. It’s infuriating.”   Lizzy glanced down at Lori’s velcro-ed sneakers, wondering if they counted as a business expense.

“Could have used this information a lot sooner.” She was unable to stop the patronising edge. “She really hurt someone, did he tell you?”

”I thought about calling you all, wanted to, even-“ Lori shrugged. “But I’ve not been well. Not to mention under a shitload of pressure from higher up.”

”Are you okay…now?”

“I’m not worse.” She shrugged. “But I’ve had to quit my archery lessons.”

”You’ve lost me, Lori.”

”Medieval punishment. Captured archers would have their index and middle fingers chopped off so they couldn’t draw their bowstrings.”

”Maybe you should try an axe instead.” Lizzy mimed swinging a weapon. “Or some kind of mace. Closer range, more accurate.”

”Higher risk, you mean.”  “Why do I get the feeling that’s more your style now? Fighting on the front line. Raising the alarm.” Lizzy gave her a gentle nudge with her elbow. “Blowing that whistle.”

“Perhaps I’ve evolved.” Lori smiled, glancing down at her hand. “In reverse.”

“If you think of anything else important-“ Please tell me. 

”I will. Since Ingen are keeping me on for now, I’m determined to do some good.” Lori  “I’m writing up guidelines. Minimum welfare requirements. If we can’t meet them in the next six months I’m taking it as high as I can go.”

“Y’know, if you wanted someone to read them over…” This sounded right up her alley. 

”Are you proposing a partnership, Armstrong?”

“As long as you’re okay with my name being first on the publications.” Lizzy smirked. “Alphabetical-“

”That’s an unfair advantage.” Lori remarked. “Then again, age before beauty.”

”Arsehole.” She nudged the embryologist’s arm again, more forcefully.

Lori crowed with laughter for the second time. ”Maybe I could use your help. You know there’s no laws concerning genetically engineered animals? Hate to break it to you Lizzy, but the Dinosaur Protection Group doesn’t exist.”

“Maybe someday. Right now my concern is just how clever our girl is.”

How big of a risk. I need to be prepared. 

”Far too clever. Especially at such a young age. The other species we develop, even the other carnivores don’t come anywhere close.”

Suddenly, the cage break seemed much more feasible. Rico had paid dearly for his mistake, but maybe he wasn’t entirely liable. 

“How clever?” Lizzy pressed. This was exactly what she was interested in.

Lori seemed surprised that Lizzy was actually taking her seriously. “As smart as a chimp. Nobody believes me, but I’m pretty sure she let herself out of her kennel on Sorna.”

Lizzy had never worked in a zoo, but she had heard plenty of hair-raising tales around the campfire from students on placement. When considering a fence breach it was never the lions or tigers that were the highest risk. Most of the time the big cats were too lazy to bother escaping. It was always the monkeys that caused the biggest ripples of panic. Especially the chimpanzees. They were capable of tearing your arm off and beating you bloody with it, and much worse. A big cat would kill you relatively quickly with a single bite to the neck. An ape would take you apart first.

Lori misread her silence. “Want some good news?”

Lizzy stared, her thoughts racing. 

”Her siblings are almost ready to come to Nublar. I’ve told Henry to make the arrangements.” Lori nodded. “She won’t be alone for much longer. Some socialisation, at last.”

Is that good news? 

Chimpanzees taught each other things too. And used tools. 

That’s ridiculous. But then those front limbs are rather tactile. And that claw…

“Great.” Lizzy whispered hoarsely. 

“You’re not even a tiny bit tempted by Sorna?” Lori tried again. “The chance to have these little demons imprint on you, while they’re still cute?”

”Really?” The image of a gaggle of infant raptors following her around like a mother hen made Lizzy’s heart skip a beat. Awww. “Imprinting? Like birds?”

“Exactly like birds.” Lori confirmed. “It’s pretty neat.”  She left out the part that she herself had stopped getting the dinosaurs to imprint on her, as most of them had perished soon after hatching. It was too damn hard.  Lizzy’s brain meanwhile was overflowing with ideas. 

To be the one to teach them, to study them from the moment they broke through their shells…

”No.” She said with finality. Desire had flickered and was extinguished. “I don’t envy the position you’re in at all, Lori.”

Judging by the look on her face, Dr Ruso knew she was lying. 

***

“How do I look?” Kathy twirled as she entered the control room, a backlit silhouette vogueing in front of the monitors.

”Fine…” Arnold muttered, not even glancing her way. 

“Fine?” She slumped. “That’s it?”

“The fuel log for the chopper.” The engineer muttered absent-mindedly. “It’s not right.”

“And I should care because…?”

“Hey, now. You used to be sweet.” Arnold frowned at her over the top of his glasses. “Too much time around Guns & Ammo has turned you cynical.”

“Not for much longer.” Less than six months to go. 

”You should care because the timestamp that is giving me grief is the night that kid got mauled.”

”Rico. His name was-“ Shit, not me too. “-is Rico.”  Arnold shook his head. ”Well, if they took Rico to San José, they should have flown an extra two-hundred kilometres, give or take. That’s a lotta gas.”

“What-“ Kathy pulled out the glasses she was keeping stuffed under the neckline of her dress to scan the pixellated lines of letters and numbers, not that it meant much to her.

“In a thunderstorm, no less.” Ray added. “Quite an impressive bit of piloting-“

She huffed in frustration. “I can’t read this crap…”

“‘Specially carrying the weight on Ed Regis‘ shoulders-“ Arnold chuckled. “-surprised they weren’t over capacity-“

”Ray!” Kathy whipped her glasses off and brandished them at the display. “What does this mean?”

“It’s a fact that the chopper didn’t get to the hospital on the mainland. Not possible.”

“So, Rico’s still at the clinic in Bahía Anasco maybe?” Kathy remained hopeful.

“Either fifty gallons of jet fuel is unaccounted for, or someone didn’t remember to fudge the numbers before they clocked off.” Arnold laid it out for her. 

Surely not…I mean, maybe…why would they lie…why would HE lie-

Kathy was silent for so long Ray finally glanced up, and did a double-take at seeing her dressed to the nines. If she ‘didn’t care’ about this date with the young Kennedy, like she kept insisting, why’d she gone to so much effort?

”You look real nice, kid.”

She didn’t hear him, her mind was elsewhere. 

I should go ask-

No.

I’m doing it.

“Call the clinic, Ray.” She finally said. “This doesn’t feel right.”

”Kit, honey. They might not even have a phone.” 

“Someone in the village is bound to have a phone. This is 1993!” She insisted. 

“Okay-dokey.” Arnold reluctantly reached for the handset at his workstation. “You’re the boss.” 

***

Bobbie Carter knew in her gut something was off.  The trend of infant deaths and mysterious lizard sightings was extending northwards up the coast with each passing day. And they were coinciding.

Was it A causing B? Or B causing A? 

There was no way to know for sure without formal research, rather than word of mouth. The smaller fishing villages also had the unhelpful habit of ‘forgetting’ to officially report unexpected mortalities.

Costa Rica was not unlike any other subtropical country. No shortage of things that could kill you. Snakes, spiders, frogs. Jaguars of course, and for those who ventured out to sea, bull sharks. Her clinic had treated its fair share.

But these unidentified lizards targeting infants and newborns in their cribs were turning from a serious, to a severe problem. Were they outright killing the children while they slept, or simply scavenging, either way having somehow learned the behaviour by opportunity, and realised that humans could become an easy meal?

Then there was the strange mauling incident from that privately-leased island a couple of weeks prior, which still haunted her. That had been no small lizard, something much bigger, and far more deadly.

His hands…

God, his hands.

She honestly couldn’t remember the kid’s face. Bobbie didn’t want to. 

But she remembered his. The red-haired man in the baseball cap. 

Backhoe, my ass. 

The phone in the clinic rang, startling her. Like everything else in Bahía Anasco, it was rusted around the edges. 

”Manuel-“ She called. 

“Ocupado!” She could hear the autoclave beeping in the next room and her assistant’s muttered apologies. 

Bobbie harumphed as she picked up the receiver. “Buenos d-“

“Is this the medical clinic in Bahía Anasco?”

The demanding tone instantly got her back up. 

“Dr Carter speaking, what’s your emergency?”

“Not an emergency, well kinda-“ She heard a women’s voice on the line murmuring, and rustling on the mouthpiece as it was cupped. “-yeah, got it. I’m calling about a patient you might have dealt with a few weeks ago. They would have arrived on a helicopter, during a thunderstorm.”

Bobbie felt a finger of ice trail down the back of her neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gut instinct was to deny, until she knew what the man wanted. Patient confidentiality and all that. 

“Now, look here, lady -“

”Ray!” Came the woman’s soft voice again. “She won’t help us if you’re rude.”

“But, Kit-“ ‘Ray’ grumbled, clearly not in the best of moods. “Sorry about this, Dr-“

”Let me speak to her.” Bobbie responded calmly, and she heard the handset clumsily changing ownership. The company name on the side of the helicopter was still unwillingly lodged in her memory. “Are you from InGen?”

Kathy saw no point in lying. “We are.”

Bobbie chose her words carefully, to not incriminate herself. She’d been on edge for weeks, only finally starting to relax, putting the thought from her mind that the government might stop by to speak to her, bringing drama to the little fishing village. She was already an outsider. And now this. 

“I do remember that night. I treated him. I was just doing my duty, as a doctor.” Her camera was still missing. “I don’t want any trouble.” 

“You won’t have trouble from us. Please. He’s a colleague of mine.” He’s my little brother. “He’s my friend. I just want to know he’s okay.”

Oh, God. They have no idea. 

The man and woman Bobbie was speaking to seemed different from the people who had dragged that kid’s lifeless body back onto the chopper. These ones cared. Ray and Kit. The kid really had meant something to them. 

Shit, this was the part of her job that she truly hated. 

“I’m deeply sorry to be the one to have to tell you, Miss- uh…Miss.” She grew solemn.

“Oh, God-“ The woman’s voice moaned faintly. 

“He passed away not long after arriving at the clinic. The man in the sports cap had his body put back in the chopper.” Why was this so much harder over the phone? When she couldn’t see their faces, hold their hands as she delivered the worst possible news? “I did what I could, I promise you that.”

Kathy heard the high-pitched ringing in her ears. Felt the tingling in her fingertips, darkness at the edges of her vision. Her nightmares come to life. 

“So did he.” She whispered. 

”What-“ Bobbie hesitated, then pressed. “What attacked him?”

”Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.” Kathy shut her down woodenly. 

“…you take care, Kit.” Dr Carter sighed as the line went dead with a click. Still no answers. 

”Well, where is he?” Arnold asked impatiently, taking the phone from Kathy’s limp hand. 

She shook her head, whimpering. “Gone.”

“Gone? Like, gone-“ The handset fell, and dangled, clattering as it swung on its cord. He collapsed back into his chair. ”No. Honey, I’m so sorry.”

Tom picked that exact moment to swagger through the control room door. 

“Been looking for you, KitKat-“ He doffed his good stetson to her. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

”I think I’m gonna have to take a raincheck…” She said vacantly. 

“No fair! You swore! What in the…” Tom tailed off as he spotted Arnold’s frantically shaking head and pained expression. “Shoot. What now?”

Kathy turned around, the monitors reflecting against the teardrops brimming in her eyes.

“He lied.” 

***

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